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Ginger Says – Nothing ever changes but the news
By Ginger | May 19, 2001
And so, on the first day of Wildhearts rehearsal I OD’d on anti-depressants, CJ had a fight in a pub with a gay Muslim nutcase and Danny was taken to prison for possession of a knife.
All’s well on the Wildhearted front. Rehearsals sound big, the riffs are huge, the ambition and sheer workload is gargantuan and the hangovers are / were leviathan. Only one week in and there’s already a set list that would make Aerosmith blush. We’re plundering the earliest stuff to give proceedings an authentic feel. The line-up is working like a dream.
CJ is, and must have always been, one of the best guitar players I have ever heard. Danny is louder than I remember… and I remember his volume so well I lost half of the hearing in my left ear because of it. Stidi has to be the most underrated drummer breathing air at the moment. The playing is muscular and lean. The vibe is pure electricity. The neighbours are complaining… it’s all good.
The biggest shock to all of us was just how difficult these old songs are to play. I always thought that because they were the first songs I ever wrote, they would be among the most simple. I’ve been wrong before, but not with such ferocity. Like having to learn how to walk again after a football injury to a pro, this exercise in genre regression has warmed everyone up nicely to the task ahead. This task being to give everyone the best night out of their lives.
Now that Guns N’ Roses have cancelled (sick guitarist, apparently?) and there is sadly no more Ramones, this leaves only The Wildhearts to bring home the punk / r’n’r groceries this summer… which is strange because having heard these songs again, for the first time in years, the comparisons between us and both the aforementioned bands are not lost upon me. This June rock ‘n’ roll is most definitely coming home. Skin up and put the kettle on.
SilverGinger 5, on the other hand, are experiencing what is commonly being known as SG5-itis. Things were never set out to be easy for this band and this mini-excursion in June is no different. We are being given (by whoever it is up there that organises these kinds of things) a total of one day in which to rehearse. Don’t worry, we’ve done much more in far less time, and no one will ever imagine that we haven’t been rehearsing for months. It’s just that kind of band, y’know?
The acoustic dates have provided me with not only my first official sell-out in advance this year (London Borderline), but the first / only sell-out for the month of June in that venue. We went down to see Jason Ringenberg (Jason & The Scorchers) at the Borderline last night, and we’re seeing him again tomorrow in a recording studio to stamp down some tunes with him – the first recordings of The Wildhearts (featuring Jason on vox, natch) and my first chance to write for the man himself. I penned a lil’ ditty called One Less Heartache for him. I gave him a tape last night and he phoned me today to tell me he loves it. Some experiences are worth savouring, y’know?
The singles club has notched up a total of 20 songs recorded and mixed. The first single is due out anytime now, and will also be on sale at all of the Wildhearts dates, should you be unable to track down a copy. The second single (Cars And Vaginas; You, Me and BT; Not Bitter, Just a Little Disappointed) has been mixed, sleeve notes penned and artwork finalised. Oh, and did I mention that it looks great and it kicks fucking ass?
And the final artwork, packaging, etc, has been pressed for the forthcoming acoustic album, Grievous Acoustic Behaviour (a name brought about during a drunken evening in the studio with Kerrang!’s Jason Arnopp), and I gotta tell you all that it is good enough to eat. I ate one and it comes out the other end a little rough, but the flavour is all that matters in matters such as these.
Busy? You could say that I’ve been busy all right. You could say that and be so right that you’d start a movement.
Oh, and I went to the dentist and got my teeth fixed! Man what a month. Jake is doing great and sprouting teeth like a baby shark.
It looks like Devin Townsend could be joining us on the Wildhearts tour. And my Jeep that got stolen has been found at the scene of a near fatal crash through which the thieves are fighting for their lives.
Man, God looked down one day and said: “Every dog must have his day… and I’m running out of dogs so I guess it’s the turn of the red-headed mongrel down there to get some.”
Clean, sober and reaping some good karma. Thank fuck I didn’t die.
Ginger
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